# Where did the dollar go...?

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Three traveling salesmen, short on money, decide to share a room in a really cheap flea-bag hotel.

The desk clerk tells them the room is $30, payable in advance, so they each give him a$10 bill and retire for the night.

Then the desk clerk realizes that he overcharged the salesmen; the room should have been $25. He gives the bellhop five singles, with instructions to give the money to the salesmen. The bellhop is a bit dishonest, however, and tells the salesmen that they are due a refund of$3. He gives $1 to each salesman, and keeps the other$2 for himself.

So each salesman has paid a net amount of $9, or$27 for all three. The bellhop has $2. Question: what happened to the other dollar of the original$30?

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Tink, I think the spurious 'missing' dollar has to do with the fact that the original $30 is no longer a part of anyone's bookkeeping, it's vestigial! So to the desk clerk the operative rent is now$25, and to the salesmen $27 -- and that difference is neatly accounted for by the bellhop's larceny. But my congratulations to the devious mind who ever devised such an intriguing situation... +1 Very good, Virginia! The spurious bookkeeping of the puzzle can easily be seen if the bellhop keeps the entire$5. In that case, by the puzzle's reasoning, the salesmen paid $30 and the bellhop has$5, for a "total" of $35. Where did the "extra"$5 come from?

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Yes, that exposes the flaw neatly

The way they print money these days.. - devaluation?

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Oh this s the absolutely perfect answer!